Dropping a Medicare Select plan does not mean a person has to go with a Medicare Supplement Plan. It just means he has to go with one of the standardized plans, provided he can find one. The Medicare select plans were offered prior to 1998. The process of getting the new plan is the same as it would be for someone else. Dropping one plan means he must go through the Medical underwriting process and he does not have a guaranteed issue rights, unless the company dropped him from a Medicare Select plan for any reason.
If a person drops an older Select plan and decides to go with the standard Medigap options, he must select one of the plans that a private insurance company offers. If he does not want to bother with a supplemental insurance package, he should consider going with a Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare Advantage plans offer the standard government options with unique and sometimes innovative coverage of their own. They also reduce the need for a person to carry more than one insurance card in their wallet.
Sadly, Select plans were phased out and new Medicare select plans no longer exist. A Medicare recipient can get one of the standardized plans without too much trouble. The process requires that a person fill out a detailed medical history, but as long as he gets accepted by the insurance company he will not have too much trouble. An ideal solution is not to drop a Medicare select plan if a person has one and is extremely happy with it. He can keep it until the day he dies or does not pay his premiums.